After a two-punch combo flattened him in the third round, Stefan Struve hoped referee Herb Dean would simply help him pull a tooth out of his cheek and let the fight continue.

Unfortunately for Struve, though, his ailment was much more serious.

The vicious punches that put down Struve – and ultimately set up a TKO loss to fellow heavyweight Mark Hunt (9-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on FUEL TV 8 headliner – actually broke the Dutch fighter’s jaw. Struve (25-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) then posted an X-ray that was taken in Saitama, Japan, which played host to the FUEL TV-televised event.

The X-ray shows a distinct break.

“Thanks for the support everybody,” the 7-foot-tall Struve tweeted. “I wanted Herb to take the tooth out of my cheek and continue but then it turned out my jaw was broken.

“Wired my jaw in the hospital here and flying back [today] to get surgery as soon as we land monday in Holland, thnx for the great care @ufc.”

The loss (watch the Struve-Hunt highlights below), which came after two back-and-forth rounds, temporarily derailed the title hopes of Struve, who was on a four-fight win streak and 6-1 run before the setback.

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